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AWS (Amazon Web Services) vs Prometheus

AWS (Amazon Web Services) logo

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Software

The leading cloud computing platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Prometheus logo

Prometheus

Software

Open source monitoring and alerting toolkit for cloud native environments

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: AWS (Amazon Web Services) data transfer in is free and data transfer out is charged, which is the standard source of unexpected bills; Prometheus not suitable for per-request billing as collected data lacks 100% accuracy
  • They diverge on capability: AWS (Amazon Web Services) covers EC2 - Virtual Servers, Prometheus covers Multi-dimensional Data Model.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Prometheus actually diverge.

Attributes where AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Prometheus differ
AttributeAWS (Amazon Web Services)Prometheus
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsWeb, Api, Cli, MobileLinux, macOS, Windows
Founded20062015

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in AWS (Amazon Web Services)

  • EC2 - Virtual Servers
  • S3 - Object Storage
  • RDS - Managed Database
  • Lambda - Serverless Computing
  • CloudFront - CDN
  • VPC - Virtual Network
  • IAM - Access Management
  • CloudWatch - Monitoring

Only in Prometheus

  • Multi-dimensional Data Model
  • PromQL Query Language
  • Pull-based Collection
  • Service Discovery
  • Alerting Rules
  • Federation
  • Local Storage
  • Grafana

Both cover

  • Kubernetes

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

  • Web hostingnot Prometheus
  • Data storagenot Prometheus
  • Machine learningnot Prometheus
  • Big data analyticsnot Prometheus
  • Application developmentnot Prometheus

Prometheus

  • Cloud-native monitoring and alertingnot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
  • Time-series metrics collectionnot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
  • Infrastructure monitoringnot AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

  • Data transfer in is free and data transfer out is charged, which is the standard source of unexpected bills
  • Discounts require one or three year Savings Plan commitments rather than being automatic
  • Every service is priced separately, so a working architecture has no single published cost
  • The free tier is a promotional allowance rather than an ongoing free plan

Prometheus

  • Not suitable for per-request billing as collected data lacks 100% accuracy
  • Hard limit on scrape body size; large responses cause scrape failure
  • Per-scrape sample limit enforced; exceeding limit marks targets as failed
  • Not designed for long-term durable storage; optimised for metrics collection

Pricing, plan by plan

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Free
  • AWS Free TierFree
    • EC2 750 hours/month
    • 5GB S3 storage
    • 20GB data transfer
  • Pay-As-You-GoFree
    • No upfront payment
    • No long-term commitments
    • Pay only for what you use

Prometheus

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Prometheus review.

Which should you pick?

Choose AWS (Amazon Web Services) if

  • You need ec2 - virtual servers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli, Mobile.
  • You also want s3 - object storage.
AWS (Amazon Web Services) review

Choose Prometheus if

  • You need multi-dimensional data model.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want promql query language.
Prometheus review

Questions people ask

Is AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Prometheus better?
Neither clearly leads. AWS (Amazon Web Services) starts at Free and Prometheus at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Prometheus?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) starts at Free and Prometheus at Free.
Does AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Prometheus run on more platforms?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) runs on Web, Api, Cli, Mobile. Prometheus runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use AWS (Amazon Web Services) for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is AWS (Amazon Web Services) best used for?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) is most often used for web hosting, data storage, machine learning, big data analytics. Of those, web hosting and data storage are not what Prometheus is typically brought in for.
What can AWS (Amazon Web Services) do that Prometheus cannot?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) covers EC2 - Virtual Servers, S3 - Object Storage, RDS - Managed Database, Lambda - Serverless Computing. Prometheus covers Multi-dimensional Data Model, PromQL Query Language, Pull-based Collection, Service Discovery. Both handle Kubernetes.
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